Orbital Briefing: The Missions, Machines, and People of Spaceflight

In 1977, NASA launched two spacecraft that would change our understanding of the outer solar system forever. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were built to explore Jupiter and Saturn, but Voyager 2 went on to visit Uranus and Neptune, becoming the only spacecraft ever to fly past all four giant planets. In this episode of Orbital Briefing , Ron Walker explores the Voyager probes, their rare planetary align...

In this episode of Orbital Briefing , Ron Walker explores Orion , NASA’s deep space crew vehicle built to carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit and into the Artemis era. From its roots in the post-Shuttle years to its role in NASA’s return to the Moon, Orion represents a new chapter in human spaceflight. This episode looks at the spacecraft’s architecture, including the crew module, European Ser...

NASA astronaut Christina Koch represents a new era of human spaceflight. From her record-setting 328-day mission aboard the International Space Station to her historic role on Artemis II, Koch’s career connects the hard-earned lessons of long-duration spaceflight with NASA’s return to deep space. In this episode of Orbital Briefing , Ron Walker explores Christina Koch’s journey from engineer and r...

What really happened on Apollo 13 ? In this episode of Orbital Briefing , Ron Walker tells the full story of NASA’s most famous in-flight emergency, from the launch of the Moon mission to the oxygen tank explosion, the aborted lunar landing, the use of the Aquarius lunar module as a lifeboat , and the dramatic safe return to Earth. This deep dive explores the Apollo 13 crew, Mission Control in Hou...

How does NASA actually fly a spacecraft once it leaves Earth? In this episode of Orbital Briefing , Ron Walker takes you inside Mission Control, the nerve center of American human spaceflight. From Gemini and Apollo to the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and Artemis, Mission Control has been where flight controllers monitor spacecraft, guide astronauts, solve problems in real time,...

Sputnik: The Beginning of the Space Age takes you back to October 4, 1957 , when Sputnik 1 , the first artificial satellite , launched from the Soviet Union and changed history forever. In this episode of Orbital Briefing , Ron Walker explores the story of Sputnik , the start of the Space Age , the rise of the Space Race , and the moment the Cold War moved into orbit. Learn how Sputnik 1 shocked t...

In this episode of Orbital Briefing , Ron Walker takes a deep dive into Jared Isaacman , the 15th Administrator of NASA , exploring his path from entrepreneur and pilot to Inspiration4 commander , commercial spaceflight pioneer, and the man now helping shape the future of Artemis , lunar exploration, and America’s road to Mars. We break down Isaacman’s background, his ties to the modern commercial...

In this episode of Orbital Briefing , we dive into Apollo 8 , the groundbreaking NASA mission that became the first crewed flight to leave Earth orbit , the first to reach the Moon , and the first to orbit another world . Learn how Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders helped change history in December nineteen sixty eight, from the tense journey into deep space to the unforgettable Earthrise...

NASA just reshaped the future of human spaceflight. In this special Orbital Briefing update, Ron Walker breaks down the biggest announcements from NASA’s IGNITION event, including the new Artemis roadmap, the shift toward building long-term lunar infrastructure, the growing focus on Mars, and what it all means as Artemis II approaches launch. If you want a clear, accessible breakdown of NASA’s lat...

How did the Space Shuttle survive the most dangerous part of every mission? During reentry, the shuttle slammed into Earth’s atmosphere at over seventeen thousand miles per hour. Temperatures outside the spacecraft soared into the thousands of degrees, hot enough to melt the aluminum structure of the orbiter in seconds. The only thing standing between the astronauts and that inferno was one of the...

After more than fifty years, humanity is preparing to return to the Moon. In this episode of Orbital Briefing , Ron Walker takes a deep dive into NASA’s Artemis program — the missions, the astronauts, the technology, and the long-term vision to build a lasting human presence beyond Earth. From Artemis I and the upcoming Artemis II crewed mission, to the evolving plans for Artemis III, Artemis IV,...

Deke Slayton helped decide who would fly some of the most important missions in the history of human spaceflight. In this episode of Orbital Briefing , host Ron Walker explores the remarkable story of Deke Slayton , one of the original Mercury Seven who became one of the most powerful figures inside NASA . Grounded early in his career due to a heart condition, Slayton never left the astronaut corp...

The Saturn V rocket was the most powerful launch vehicle ever successfully flown — the machine that carried NASA’s Apollo astronauts to the Moon. Standing more than three hundred sixty feet tall and producing seven and a half million pounds of thrust , the Saturn V remains one of the greatest engineering achievements in human history. Built during the height of the space race , this three-stage ro...

After the Apollo Moon landings, NASA faced an uncertain future. The Saturn V rockets were retired, the Space Race had been won, and funding for space exploration was shrinking. What came next would become one of the most ambitious spacecraft ever built. In this episode of Orbital Briefing , Ron Walker explores how NASA moved from the Apollo program to the development of the Space Shuttle — a revol...

Welcome to Orbital Briefing — the podcast exploring the missions, machines, and people of spaceflight. From the earliest days of the space race to the spacecraft now preparing to carry humans back to the Moon and beyond, Orbital Briefing dives deep into the history and future of space exploration. In this trailer episode, host Ron Walker introduces the show and previews the kinds of stories you’ll...